Selling A Business - From The Desk Of A Business Consultant Nz

Selling A Business in Auckland - An unfortunate story

I’m going to share a true story from a few weeks ago - it was a phone call between myself and a lady I’ll call Sue.

Sue phoned me in response to one of my own marketing campaigns - “a fax blast”, where I’d sent a fax of a professionally written (and in part fictitious) newspaper article to a group of business owners to get their attention and to get them to ring me. Sue was one of the business owners who rang me. I’d had a number of positive calls from a number of business owners and from there I’d secured new clients, all after using this one single marketing tool as a way to get the attention of some very busy individuals.

All in all, the marketing campaign went really well, all but for this one story - Sue.

So back to Sue.

Sue: “Hi, yes well my husband has made me call you because he thinks we need some help”

That was my first clue that this call may not go in the direction I’d expect this call to go.

I asked 10-15 minutes of questions to find out where their main business challenges were so I could start to learn more to be able to help, and after understanding that her main competitor was outperforming her company by more than tenfold “but they are not as technically competent as we are” I shared a number of quick fire business ideas to assist, all very positive, all would have helped her business, her response was:

“This is nothing I don’t already know”.

OK.

So with phone in hand, pacing around my office, I literally took a step back to take stock of the situation:

1. A business owner has phoned me for help
2. I’ve shared some focused ideas that I know would hugely and positively impact her business, and
3. I receive the sharp response.


OK.

I now understand.

I politely ended the call by suggesting she talk to her husband, and ring me back if they agree they’d like to meet. She and I both know we’ll never talk again.

There are lessons in every situation, and this one has two really good ones.

The first is: “You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped”.

I’ve learnt that in my coaching training and when applying the principles - don’t spend time with those who don’t value your time, there are too many others out there who would enjoy spending time with you and benefiting from your experience. Life is far too short.

That was lesson 1.

Lesson 2 was marketing focus.

Sue’s competition was DVS - a company well known across NZ because of their solid marketing & branding, radio & TV adverts, where the words and pictures are all focused on the benefits of the home ventilation system - how it “removes the steam and excess water from your home, making your home a more healthy place to live, for you and your family”. They were the first company to really focus on the benefits of their system and they have performed really well for a number of years.

I wonder what would appeal to the mums and dads at home:
1. “I’m more technical and know how to install your system, come to me”
2. “My system will make your home a healthier place to live for you and your family.”

In case you’re wondering, it’s option 2 every time, because it appeals to 90%+ of the decision makers of home owners - appealing to their life, their family, their home, their style of living, to name a few. All being improved by ‘this system’ - great - I want one.

That’s why DVS is outperforming Sue in tens, even hundreds of multiples.

One company understands their market, and the message needed to resonate with their market, through the benefits of their product.

It’s not a fair fight.

And I feel sorry for the husband.

So why did I share this story? Because I don’t want you to be like Sue. I don’t want you to unnecessarily struggle in business, when there is help close to hand, you just have to know when to ask for it.

If you want to avoid being like Sue, and want to take positive action, then why not join the group of business owners and entrepreneurs who are collaborating together on areas of improvement under my guidance - I’d love to be able to support you to achieve more in your everyday.

To be different to Sue, to get ahead in your marketing to ensure your business is worth as much as possible when you come to sell, visit The Profit Partnership today.